TV I Watched In 2015

For the next few posts, I'm going to take a look at everything I viewed in the last year that might not have been covered in a typical review. For starters, I'm going to look at the last couple of seasons of live-action television. This will be followed up by posts about movies and animation. Time to get started.

The Walking Dead
After dealing with Terminus and a hospital run by corrupt cops, the group met a man named Aaron, who brought them to Alexandria. The city is heavily walled to keep out the zombies, but Deanna seems to put more emphasis on keeping the interior safe and comfortable rather than preparing her people for the world outside. Some characters find it easier to adapt inside than others. Carol wisely manages to blend in, hiding her more hardened aspects and acting like a normal housewife. Sasha has a nervous breakdown. Eugene grows a backbone in order to save Tara when he had to. Carl might just get himself a girlfriend. Rick nearly becomes Shane. Over the course of this year, (second half of season 5, first half of season 6), we lost Tyreese, Noah, and several others. The group is now facing off against a tribe of feral humans called the Wolves, led by a man named Negan, who has yet to be revealed. Every episode of the sixth season so far has taken place during the same 24-hour period. After discovering a huge horde of zombies in a rock quarry, Rick leads an attempt to corral them away from Alexandria, but the Wolves anticipated this and brought down a huge section of the wall. Glenn goes missing, and was presumed dead for a long time. He manages to signal his survival just as the walls come crashing down. Alexandria could still be salvaged, but for now it's time to evacuate using the old method of camouflaging yourselves in zombie guts. It's a tense moment as Rick leads his group out and a scared Sam has to ask his mom a question. Meanwhile, a dying Deanna makes a defiant stand against the horde to try and buy them time. We also saw the return of Morgan, who has regained his sanity with some help from a cheese maker and has a strict policy against killing the living. I'm looking forward to what happens this year.

Fear The Walking Dead
Taking place at the early stages of the outbreak and on the other side of the country, this series is a pretty mixed bag. It's interesting seeing characters learn what they're dealing with and how to survive. The group is an eclectic broken family; a man and his kids, the woman he's dating and her kids, as well as some illegal immigrants who were kind enough to help them when they needed it. One of the main characters is a drug addict, and is the first one made aware of the zombies. At first, he doesn't know if what he's seeing is real or a drug-induced hallucination, but that doesn't last long. We see the government intervene and occupy the area, but also collecting people who they believe might turn and becoming an adversary. The audience is well aware of what is about to happen, but the characters are not. As such, we see some people acting pragmatically and others acting stupid. The most egregious example of this was in the third (?) episode when the family breaks into a neighbor's house to get a weapon to protect themselves with. While everyone stands by to keep lookout, they leave the door to their own house wide open, allowing a zombified neighbor to walk right in and kill their dog. Even if you don't understand there are undead killers walking around, you do realize there's a crisis. Still, I kept watching. I like the new surroundings of the show and a few of the characters. I'm not as emotionally invested in them as I am in Rick's group, but it's still early in the show. Time will tell if this sticks.

The Flash
The second season kicked off where the first season ended, a giant time hole over Central City and the Flash trying to close it. Unfortunately, he couldn't do it without Firestorm's help, who split himself up to get it closed. Professor Stein was saved, but Ronny hasn't been seen since. A new Firestorm was later brought in to keep Stein stable. A recorded confession from Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne secured Barry's father's release from prison, who promptly went along his way. The singularity left several wormholes open throughout the city allowing for visitors from a parallel Earth, including Atom Smasher, Dr. Light, Jay Garrick (an alternate Flash), and their own Harrison "Harry" Wells. But the most dangerous of all is Zoom, a speedster clad in black who can run even faster than Barry, and brought him down with ease during their first encounter. Harry wants to help Barry bring down Zoom, but has to tread carefully because Zoom is holding his daughter Jessie (Quick?) hostage. The year ended with a team-up between the Trickster and Weather Wizard, and the introduction of Iris's brother, Wally West (the eventual Kid Flash). Barry also got himself a new girlfriend, a police officer on the metahuman task force with a personal score to settle with Weather Wizard. It's been a strong season so far, and I hope it continues this way.

Arrow
Damien Dahrk and his HIVE are terrorizing Star City and Team Arrow has been running ragged trying to stop them, so Oliver is called back to help them as the Green Arrow. Thea, now Speedy, is having some rage problems thanks to being resurrected by the Lazarus Pit. As such, she has to kill from time to time to stay in control. She and Laurel take a trip to Nanda Parbat, which results in the resurrection of her sister Sarah. Unfortunately, Sarah's been dead too long so her soul is completely absent from her body. Once Team Arrow tracks her down, Oliver calls in a favor from an old friend: John Constantine. I decided to marathon through the cancelled series in preparation for this episode. And while it helped, and made it that much cooler to see the character on the show, it wasn't necessarily needed to enjoy the character. The best thing was that they worked him into the flashbacks, rather than just showing up in present day. In the current flashback arc, Waller has enlisted Oliver to infiltrate a drug cartel on a different island. He runs into Constantine while there, who uncovers a mystical artifact that both he and the drug boss may have been looking for. Ollie saves his life when they set off a trap, and so he owed him one. In the present, once he arrives in Star City, they perform a ritual to unite Sarah's soul with her body, successfully reviving her (she eventually goes to visit her mother and deal with her own bloodlust). The episode ends with Constantine warning Oliver about Dahrk, which was a nice touch. Ray Palmer was presumed dead for most of the season, but was eventually discovered shrunk, and imprisoned by Dahrk, but alive. He's rescued, but opts to keep his survival a secret until the time is right, keeping Felicity in charge of Palmer Technologies. In the meantime, Oliver's been running for mayor, Captain Lance has been a reluctant associate of Dahrk's (eventually acting as a mole for Team Arrow), and Diggle's brother is discovered as one of Dahrk's henchmen. Diggle's brother shows no signs of remorse for any crimes committed, but whether or not he's brainwashed is uncertain. The year ended with an ending straight out of On Her Majesty's Secret Service. After an awesome battle against Dahrk, Oliver makes a very public proposal to Felicity, and she accepts. In the limo drive afterward, they're gunned down by Dahrk's men. Oliver manages to get to the wheel and drive to safety, but Felicity is unconscious, and could potentially die. The first episode of the season ended with Oliver and Barry standing over a grave, which made me incredibly uneasy. Felicity is my favorite character and if she dies, I'm not sure how much I'll stick around for. It's still a great series, and I'm hoping she pulls through.

Legends Of Tomorrow
While the series proper won't begin until this year, the annual crossover between The Flash and Arrow laid the groundwork, so I'll cover it here. Cisco began dating the beautiful Kendra Saunders, who turned out to be the latest reincarnation of Hawkgirl. When Vandal Savage came after her, it seemed Barry would not be able to take him on alone, so they took a trip to Star City to seek help from Team Arrow. They later run into Hawkman and their backstories are revealed, but Vandal Savage comes after them again. Cisco helps Kendra find her wings, and the teams eventually go back to Central City. At which point Oliver runs into an old flame, and meets his son, who she told him she had miscarried (at his mother's bribe). Barry's running back in time from last season occurs again, so we see events play out in two different ways. At first, Felicity discovers the DNA results between Oliver and his son, gets mad that she was left out of the loop, seemingly dumping him and messing with his focus during the battle. Cisco's device to stop Vandal Savage doesn't work, and Kendra can't unleash her power when it was needed, and the city explodes. Barry outruns the explosion, ends up back at the beginning of the day, and confides in Oliver what happens. And so, things play out differently. Oliver takes Barry's word for it, so no DNA test occurs. He still promises to keep his son a secret, at the mother's behest. This could still be a problem later, but it's better than blowing up in his face. Cisco's device works this time, and he also provides Kendra the encouragement she needs to unleash her power. As a result, Savage goes down, disintegrating into a pile of ash. After all is said and done, Kendra decides to go off with Hawkman and discover who she's supposed to be. There's a twist at the end, though, as Malcolm Merlyn is seen at the end collecting Vandal's ashes, which will likely take part in some ritual later. These episodes are much more inclusive than last year's crossover, both settings and casts play a role in both parts, and we get some important character development for everyone involved.
The second season was all about the emer

Agent Carter
This was a fun series, and a great opportunity to see Peggy shine as a leading lady, fighting not only enemy agents and maintaining her own secret mission, but also dealing with the stigmas and prejudices of the era and proving herself an asset by overcoming those difficulties. I also enjoyed the setting of the late 1940s, and some of the music. The season seems to end with the implication of starting the HYDRA splinter cell within the SSR (later SHIELD). It'll be great to see where this show goes.

Agents Of SHIELD
The second season dealed mostly with the emergence of Inhumans, the reveal of Skye's past and identity (Daisy Johnson AKA Quake), and Ward coming into his own as an enemy. The show managed to tie into Age Of Ultron by revealing the new Helicarrier and sending intel to the Avengers that would set off the movie. While still not recognized by the US government, it's at least cemented that SHIELD is active again in the MCU and training new superhumans. By the end of the second season, Coulson has lost a hand, Simmons is sucked through a portal to an alien planet, and terrigen crystals have been dispersed into the world's water supply (mostly contaminating fish). The third season kicks off as people who have taken fish oil tablets have been turned into Inhumans. SHIELD has been trying to round them up and recruit them, as well as keep them safe from anyone else. However, another Inhuman called Lash has been killing them before they can get to them. Turns out this is Melinda May's ex-husband, who was once a good man, but has given in almost completely to Lash's instincts. Simmons is rescued, but is driven by a need to rescue the astronaut who was stranded there too and helped her survive. HYDRA sends a team through the portal and Coulson follows suit. Ward is killed on the planet, and the astronaut is revealed to be dead, having been possessed by an entity on the planet, which later takes possession of Ward. We also get some more development for Agents Hunter and Morse (Mockingbird). Supposedly, they're getting their own show soon. I had initially heard that ABC opted not to do it, but perhaps they changed their mind.

Gotham
Some say that villains are being introduced to the show too early. I would be inclined to agree, but I still find myself watching every week. The bigger problem in the show is probably James Gordon. He's supposed to be the good cop on a corrupt police force, but we've seen Gordon make some controversial decisions toward the end of the first season and throughout the second. At the very beginning of this season, he makes a deal with Penguin (the big crime boss in the city now) to get his badge back. His precinct gets a new no nonsense Captain played by Michael Chiklis. His zero tolerance stance on corruption is exactly what Gordon and the GCPD need, but if he would have fired Gordon in a heartbeat if he knew about it. The Joker we saw last season turned out to be a red herring who gets killed early on this season, implying that his theatrics and laugh inspire whoever will become the real Joker. Edward Nygma goes down a dark path, dealing with schizophrenia and falling completely off the deep end after inadvertently killing the woman he loved. It's a real shame to see this happen so soon, because I liked the character and the actor. He's still great in the role, I just wished they'd slowed his progression. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne continues his investigation into is parents' murder, while an evil man named Theo Galavan works his way into both arcs. He was a villain with good publicity, running for mayor one moment, and orchestrating villainy in another. He uses his niece, Silver St. Cloud, to try and get close to Bruce and acquire his family's company. There are several complicated threads involving other villains, Barbara Keane going insane, Gordon's relationshp with Dr. Thompkins, and the Penguin. By the end of the year, it looks like it may be difficult for Gordon to come back to Gotham, but he may have to, now that we've caught a glimpse of Mr. Freeze.

Supergirl
DC absolutely hit this one out of the park. By the time the series began, Superman has already established himself as a superhero. His cousin Kara was sent to Earth when he was a baby to protect him as Krypton exploded, but her ship arrived later. And since she was in stasis, she's younger than he is too. For a long time, she was content just living a normal life, but felt a need to use her powers for something greater. So when her adoptive sister's jet is going down, she reveals herself to the world, and now she's working closely with a government organization to take down alien threats and prove herself worthy of her cousin's emblem. Melissa Benoist's performance is wonderful. She's adorable, unsure of herself yet confident at the same time. We've also seen her overbearing boss Cat Grant soften up over time, and her sister's boss Hank Henshaw reveal himself as the Martian Manhunter. I cant wait to see what else happens.


The Big Bang Theory
For the most part, it's been a lot of fun. We've seen Penny and Leonard get married. Sheldon and Amy broke up, got back together, and lost their virginity. The break-up did hurt, though. Not much else to say about it.


Bones
The previous season was supposedly the final one, and while it went out on a high note, something irked me about Booth's gambling addiction subplot. For me, it seemed to come out of nowhere. Perhaps had I seen the series more regularly when it started, I would have picked up on it, but it still seemed out of left field for me. When it returned in the fall, Booth returned to the FBI, Brennan went back to the Jeffersonian, and the only real thing to change was Saroyan's relationship ending. There was a crossover with Sleepy Hollow. I don't watch that series, but I checked out their episode. It was actually pretty well handled. Any supernatural elements were either kept away from the Bones characters, keeping their realistic fiction world intact. Even so, I get the feeling that while the Bones episode is canon to both shows, the Sleepy Hollow episode might not be canon to Bones. That's just my own assumption, so I can't really say for certain. Still, it was neat to see these two casts interact a little.


Castle
The story of the mystery writer turned private investigator and his police detective wife took an unpleasant turn when the current season began. Beckett has been promoted to captain, and stumbles into another link in the chain regarding Senator Bracken and her mother's murder. Bracken himself is killed in prison, and while Beckett continues investigating this on the down low, she decided to leave Castle. Stubborn as always, he takes every opportunity to get in on police investigations and help solve cases, trying to win her back, or at least stay in her life. I'm a little behind, though, so if they're still together by the end of the year I have no idea. This has been a trying year for television relationships, and I'm tired of seeing characters I like get dumped.


Galavant
This unevenly fun musical parody series follows a knight who tried to save his beloved from marrying the evil King Richard, only for her to reject him and go through with the marriage. Some time later, Galavant is recruited by a princess to save her parents and take back her kingdom, only to learn that she's working for Richard much later. The time slot is an hour long, but each episode is only half an hour, so we got two episodes every week for a few weeks. The series is normally pretty funny, but a few bits do get annoying sometimes. The songs are catchy, and the actors have enough charisma to keep your attention. Richard, despite his ruthless reputation, is pretty ineffectual and actually wants to be a better, more beloved ruler to his people. Queen Madalena, on the other hand, quickly becomes a ruthless baroness, who manages to overthrow her husband by the end of the season. Surprisingly enough, it was given a second season that began earlier this month. It's still a fun musical romp throughout its run.

Jessica Jones
I only caught the first two episodes before the new year began. Like Daredevil, we get to see the seedy underbelly of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The titular character is a former superhero turned private investigator. A mind controlling man named Killgrave (known in comics as the Purple Man), once had her under his thumb, as he has done with many people, and it seems he's resurfaced and is actively making her life miserable. We also meet Luke Cage, another superpowered individual, who kind of wants to be left alone. Krysten Ritter plays Jessica, and seems to roll with the punches over time. It's interesting that she doesn't publicize her abilities, but doesn't exactly hide them either. Still watching, so will have to follow this up eventually.

Power Rangers Dino Charge
This first half has been a pretty nice improvement over Megaforce, balancing out a healthy amount of stock footage with genuine story arcs and character growth. Some of the best episodes this season have been the Ranger introductions. Rise Of A Ranger saw Prince Phillip get ahold of the Graphite Energem, and after several failed attempts to bond with it, finally becomes a Ranger after saving Chase's little sister. World Famous (In New Zealand) gave us a one-shot Purple Ranger. Albert Smith was a fraudulent Bigfoot hunter, who nonetheless had a taste for adventure and a desire to do good for his country. He finds the Energem after saving a little girl stranded on a mountainside and it bonds with him. One the other Rangers find him, he's been using his powers and a police scanner to stop street crime. They recruit him into the team, but he freezes up when fighting aliens. Tyler does help him find his courage by the end of the episode, but he can't bring himself to leave New Zealand. So Keeper unbonds him from the Energem, leaving it up to the others to find a new Purple Ranger. But after Sledge recruits a humanoid captive named Heckyl, the Purple Energem is eventually taken by Fury, leading to the "season" finale One More Energem. Kendall builds a robot that will locate the stolen Energem, but first they have to get it into one of Sledge's transport pods. Unfortunately, Sledge also manages to take the Red Energem from Tyler and capture Keeper, so Kendall goes up to Sledge's ship in the same transport pod. Tyler and Shelby eventually go up after her. Eventually Kendall gets the Energem, rescues Keeper, and becomes the Purple Ranger. Shelby escapes with them, and Tyler confronts Sledge himself, all while the remaining Rangers fight off a monster in their Megazords. Thanks to Kendall's robot, Tyler gets back his Energem before Sledge can use it as a weapon, and brings the ship down. He's saved just in the nick of time by the others as Sledge's ship crashes. The Rangers go their separate ways temporarily, ready for when they're needed again and the other Energems are discovered. Meanwhile, something sinister pokes its head out of Heckyl's holding cell. I look forward to what happens next. Saban and Nickelodeon have finally regained that balance that keeps the show entertaining.

The Muppets
I wish I'd watched this a little more often, but the DVR never seemed to sync up with it. However, it's the Muppets, so you're bound to enjoy it in some capacity. It's The Muppet Show meets The Office. The characters are once again putting on a show (a late-night talk show hosted by Miss Piggy) and all sorts of things can go wrong. The real focus, however, is on the characters' lives behind the scenes. Kermit and Piggy broke up at some point before the show began, and the fact that he's the producer and she's the star makes some things awkward. Fozzie's dating a human, and her parents don't really approve. Supposedly the ratings haven't been strong, though, so the format might change up a little when more episodes are made.

Henry Danger
While I didn't watch the show on a regular basis, I did see an episode once in a while, and it's almost a guilty pleasure. As the intro explains, Henry Hart is looking for an after-school job and finds one as the sidekick for the local superhero Captain Man. Probably more suited for kids in their pre-teens or early teens, but it's not particularly bad. I also like that Captain Man has invulnerability, but he still feels pain, and that Henry himself is a loyal friend and sidekick.

Doctor Who
We had a pretty solid season this time around, consisting mostly of two-part stories and at last a return to Gallifrey. The first two episodes were great. We got Missy the Master, the Daleks, and Davros. Evil as he may be, I can't help but think that Davros had a genuine reaction when he heard that Gallifrey was still out there. He was truly happy for the Doctor, and it made me wonder if he had the chance to revive the Kaleds and the Thals if he would. A new sort-of adversary was introduced. A Norse woman named Ashildr, who the Doctor gave an alien chip to in order to save her life, allowing her to live forever. She eventually cast of her name, and simply calls herself Me, having lived through several lifetimes and identities. She creates a sanctuary city for aliens living on Earth, sets a mystery trap for the Doctor, and Clara Oswald's cleverness backfires in a huge (but kinda stupid) way, leading to her death. The episode after that had the Doctor completely alone, something the series has never done before, which ended with his arrival on Gallifrey. He then attempts to save Clara's life, but it's a fixed point. Alive she may be, but her heart won't beat.Meeting with Ashildr at the end of time, he decides to erase Clara's memory and sending her back like he did with Donna, but instead he ends up with his memory erased, while she and Ashildr, go off in a new TARDIS that looks like a diner. There is one element I wasn't particularly fond of. In the finale, we see a Time Lord regenerate into a Time Lady as if it was nothing. While I've accepted the idea that regenderation is possible, I don't accept it as normal. She even states that she had been a woman up until her previous life, so the theory that a catalyst or additional variable might be required could still be possible, but it only works for that one incarnation. By the following life, you'll regenderate again. Stephen Moffat only has one season left, which he's unfortunately waiting a whole year for. I'm really hoping he's not setting up for a female Doctor. The season truly ended with the Christmas special, The Husbands Of River Song. It's really great to see Capaldi's Doctor interact with her, especially since she spends most of the episode not knowing who he is. It's a bittersweet ending as it seems he's able to spend the next 24 years with her (one night on that particular planet), but they'll never see each other again. (She'll meet him one last time when he was David Tennant, but all his encounters are now in the past.) Still, a good way to finish out the year.

Power Rangers Dino Charge- Break Out

Previous episodes established the core team, and the need to find the Energems before Sledge does. Somebody is inside Fury (who has gained control of the Ptera Zord) and trying to break free, who Tyler assumes might be his father. When an exhibit on the Stone of Zandar ends up in their museum, the team now finds themselves in possession of the Gold Energem, which will allow him to keep the Ptera Zord charged. Tyler and Shelby posed as royals to lure Fury out, and while they kept the Energem, Fury still has a Ptera Charger to use against the Rangers.

This episode picks up as Prince Phillip III of Zandar shows up with his security detail to confiscate the exhibit and return it home, the Energem along with it. They're ambushed by Fury and a new monster. Although Phillip wasn't exactly nice to them, the Rangers still don't hesitate to protect him.

Once Fury himself gets ahold of the Energem, the person trapped inside Fury is let out. It's not Tyler's father after all, but the legendary Knight of Zandar, Sir Ivan. A morpher manifests on his wrist, allowing him to morph into the Dino Charge Gold Ranger. He quickly dispatches the mooks, monsters, and Fury with a bit of Zandar Thunder, and takes control of the Ptera Charge Megazord when the monster grows.

Ivan swears loyalty to Phillip, who relinquishes the Gold Energem to the fabled hero. After a short introduction to the other Rangers, Ivan goes off on his way, unclear if he's joining the team or not.

Standard in some ways to most Sixth Ranger introductions, but Ivan himself makes for a cool character. Like Caveman Koda, he's a relic from another time, and it's always neat to see an Arthurian type in a modern setting. Plenty of opportunities for him to bond and clash with his teammates. The question is still raised as to where Tyler's father is, and it's possible he's still inside Fury somewhere. All that remains to be seen.

Hotel Transylvania 2

The movie begins with the wedding of Count Dracula's daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and her human boyfriend Jonathan (Andy Samberg). There's a lot of fun and heart in these first scenes alone, as Dracula (Adam Sandler) has become more accepting of humans and happy for as long as Mavis is happy. Soon after, Mavis becomes pregnant and gives birth to the seemingly human Dennis. Dracula is a fun and caring vampa (vampire grandpa), but is nonetheless worried that he shows no signs of vampirism.

After a few amusing scenes of toddlerhood, the plot picks up a matter of days before Dennis' fifth birthday, the apparent deadline for his fangs to sprout. The titular Hotel Transylvania, once a vacation sanctuary for monsters, is now being integrated into human society and the modern age. It's great to see monsters becoming more accepted not only in Transylvania, but in the rest of the world as well thanks to the occasional manatee gag. Johnny has been helping with the integration, but hasn't had much alone time with Mavis since Dennis was born. With some encouragement from his parents (Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally), he and Mavis are considering moving to America can have a safer childhood around human children. Mavis herself seems a bit stir crazy from motherhood, as things get a bit out of hand at the werewolf pups' birthday party. In short, wolf pups go wild, Dennis chips a tooth, and Mavis is just about convinced.

Johnny, however, likes it in Transylvania and wants to stay, so he and Dracula make a deal. While Mavis and Johnny go on a trip to visit his parents, Dracula watches Dennis. Once they're gone, he takes the boy on a road trip with Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), Griffin the Invisible Man (David Spade), Murray the Mummy (Keegan-Michael Key, replacing CeeLo Green), and Blobby. He hopes that they can all teach Dennis how to be a monster and become scary. All of their attempts meet with some degree of failure, due in no small part to monsters' being more commonplace now.
It all comes to a head at Dracula's old vampire summer camp, which has unfortunately abandoned its old fangs on approach. The focus has become on fun and safety, and there's very little learning, challenge, or fear left to it. Determined to make some progress, he takes Dennis to the top of the abandoned and unstable flight training tower, and drops him off in hopes that he'll turn into a bat and fly. The scene plays out somewhat differently than we see in the trailer. He catches Dennis at the last minute like always, but the act gets him in trouble with the camp counselor (Dana Carvey), and that only gets worse once the tower falls and Frank runs through the camp and burns it down.

Meanwhile in California, Mavis is having a blast exploring skate parks and mini-marts. It's not really until she gets to Johnny's parents' house that she starts feeling homesick. His father Mike just kind of rolls with the whole monster thing, but his mother Linda goes out of her way to make Mavis comfortable, in the sort of way that makes the person uncomfortable anyway. She's just about to change her mind about moving, when a video of Dennis' flying lesson goes viral. Mavis wastes no time turning into a bat, grabbing Johnny and flying home, while Dracula and the others race to get back first. (All of this seems to happen over the course of one Transylvanian night, but hey, it's an animated film.)

The decision is made to move away after Dennis' birthday party. Johnny's family comes to visit, and Mavis also invited Vlad (Mel Brooks), her grandfather and Dracula's dad. It's exposited early on that Vlad is an even more traditional monster than Dracula, and so Dracula has reason to worry about what could happen if he discovers that Mavis married into a human family. They cover this up by telling Johnny's family that it's a costume party.

Vlad arrives and doesn't seem to suspect anything, although notes that Johnny's Gary Oldman wig is ridiculous, and assumes just like Dracula has that Dennis is a late fanger. Things come to a head when Vlad attempts to scare the fangs out of Dennis, possessing the performer hired for the party (a parody of a certain cookie eating Muppet) and turning him into a real monster. Dracula, however, draws the line and puts a stop to it.

As Dennis runs away in tears, Mavis and the others confront Vlad and reveal Johnny and his family, but not before she chews out her father and husband for going along with it. Werewolf pup Winnie runs after Dennis (the two have an adorable lovy-dovy friendship throughout the film) and run into Bela, Vlad's right hand bat demon, who takes them hostage.

The others soon realize that Dennis is gone and go off to find him, and once Bela strikes Winnie, Dennis' fangs finally pop. He turns into a bat and gives Bela a serious bat-kicking. More bat demons show up, but so do the other monsters and family members. It's an awesome fight, which finally ends when Vlad uses his own magic to shrink Bela down to the size of a normal bat and the others disperse. Vlad apologizes to Dracula and Mavis, and now that Dennis is a real vampire, there's no need to move. As with the first film, the story ends with a huge dance party.

Hotel Transylvania 2 is a great sequel. It's hard to say if it's necessarily better, but it's definitely on the same level. Genndy Tartakovsky's directing keeps the film's comedy flowing with great zingers and slapstick. And of course, the animation is nothing short of spectacular. I particularly noticed the backgrounds and sets more. The hotel/castle and the woods surrounding it are beautifully rendered, looking almost real, while the characters maintain exaggerated cartoony features. Dennis and Winnie are voiced by real children and their interactions are incredibly sweet. There's themes of growing up and acceptance in both this movie and the first. Dracula continues to be one of Adam Sandler's best roles, and it's great to see films where he's allowed to have depth and are more than an excuse to go on vacation with his buddies. I definitely recommend both films for Halloween viewing.

Star vs. The Forces Of Evil

Star Butterfly is a magical princess from another dimension called Mewni. Having reached a certain age, she inherits the royal magic wand from her mother, but her rambunctious attitude and lack of discipline show that she's not quite ready to use it responsibly. As such, her parents send her to Earth and enroll her in a normal high school as an exchange student, placing her in the home of Marco Diaz. Marco serves as a grounded foil to Star. He plays it safe whenever possible, and the hijinks Star often pulls him into is sometimes overwhelming. Nonetheless, he's perfectly capable of using karate to defend himself and is very protective of Star when he has to be. After Star's best friend (a floating unicorn head) leaves her with a pair of dimensional scissors, the show alternates between slice of life stories, visiting strange and exotic places, and fighting off monsters. Leading the monsters is Ludo, a diminutive sorcerer trying to steal the wand for himself. He's mostly ineffectual until a lizard man named Toffee comes along.

The animation is bright, colorful, and often goes off-model to great effect, as the character designs are incredibly fluid. Star's design itself is a good indicator of what you can expect from the show. On one hand, she's blonde and adorable with hearts on her cheeks, and would not seem out of place in the magical girl anime genre (a definite source of inspiration). On the other, her devil horns headband indicate her chaotic nature. Eden Sherr delivers a fantastic vocal performance that you can't help but enjoy. (It's clear the cast is enjoying htemselves.) One of the first bits of magic she is seen using is putting a rainbow over her head, which promptly bursts into flames. At other points, she creates a litter of puppies with laser vision, accidentally replaces Marco's arm with a monstrous tentacle, and nearly anything you could possibly think of.

While mostly bizarre magical misadventures, the series does take a more serious tone on a few occasions. When Star's demon ex-boyfriend takes her to what is essentially demon prom, Marco braves the underworld to keep an eye on her and ensure her safety, despite Star's own insistence that she can take care of herself. Later, she and Marco try to bust out her Pony Head friend from St. Olga's Reform School for Wayward Princesses, which uses methods straight out of A Clockwork Orange to mold its wild individualist inmates into stereotypical uptight royalty. The season finale raises the stakes significantly (as can be expected with just about any show) as Marco gets abducted by Toffee and Star sets out on her own to rescue him.

The real treat of the series is Star and Marco's interaction. As stated before, Marco is a good foil for Star without being a complete opposite. It's easy to see these two developing into a more romantic relationship, despite having separate love interests at the moment (and even trying to help each other make progress in those relationships). I look forward to seeing where the next season takes these two. One thing's for sure, things are going to get a little weird and a little wild.

Zoo

All over the world, mutations are occurring in the animal kingdom (mostly mammals and birds), represented by a defiant left pupil. They no longer fear humans and have been attacking with increased coordination and ferocity. The series follows a team assembled to figure out what has happened and if it can be stopped: Jackson Oz is an expert in animal behavior, whose father realized this was happening but was dismissed as a lunatic during his lifetime. He and his best friend Abraham are among the first to witness the lion attacks Africa, along with French intelligence agent Chloe Tousignant. Jamie Campbell is a journalist who was initially working her own leads, trying to bring down the mega-corporation Reiden Global in connection to zoo animals escaping and killing. Rounding out their group is Mitchell Morgan, a veterinary pathologist with a chip on his shoulder and a sick daughter from a failed marriage. The whole team is eventually brought together by Delavane, who seemingly works for Interpol.

Over the course of the series, we learn that Reiden was indeed responsible for the uprising (which I initially assumed was a red herring), thanks to a Mother Cell which was used in all of their foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. Various characters who seem trustworthy at first turn out to be working for them, either to keep an eye on the team, stop them from getting too close, or perhaps genuinely want to find a cure for the mess they created.

All the animals used are real ones, to varying degrees of success (some just don't look as ferocious as they're supposed to be), with the exceptions of a few swarmed bird and bat attacks. The characters do manage to grow on you over the course of the series. The final episode provides some hope that things can be returned to normal, but still ends with a cliffhanger. Whether or not the book ends the same way, or if this was an intentional hook to get a second season, I can't be sure. It's still a cool miniseries, and definitely worth watching through at least once.

American Ultra

Jesse Eisenberg is Mike Howell, a socially awkward young adult with a beautiful girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) who loves him dearly no matter how many times his handicaps get in the way. He wants to pop the question and take her on a trip, but every time he tries to leave town, he panics. It turns out Mike was the test subject for a CIA programming initiative, who had his memories erased and returned to a normal life after the program was shut down. His attempts to leave town have attracted the attention of CIA upstart Adrian Yates (Topher Grace) who is authorizing his own operation to have Howell eliminated. Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), the director of the program, catches wind of the operation, finds Mike, and reactivates his subconscious training, giving him the skills to fight back as his entire life is turned upside down.

Mike and Phoebe run for their lives around town, fighting off the other assets from the program who are trying to kill them. Eventually it's revealed that Phoebe was his handler. At first, he's distraught by this, but later learns that while she was initially supposed to get him acclimated back into a normal life, she chose to stay behind because she loved him.

For an action comedy, there are very few laugh out loud moments until the final 30-45 minutes of the movie, although there's enough to keep you smiling throughout. The action, on the other hand, is fantastic, alternating between hand-to-hand, gunplay, unlikely weapons, and plenty of explosions and fireworks.

Mike is pretty relatable as an awkward guy dating a girl way out of his league, and is so grateful to have her in his life no matter how many times he screws up. His reaction to the situation he finds himself in is believable too, and any person would freak out in pretty much the same way. Topher Grace pulls off the bad guy role a lot better than he did in Spider-Man 3. He's someone in a position of authority who really shouldn't be there, and his character is a prime example of what's wrong with covert operations today. He authorized his own operation so he could pull it off and impress the higher ups. There was no imminent threat or greater good justification. No probable cause or due process, and it's very satisfying when he gets its comeuppance.

The real strength of this movie is that it actually made me like Kristen Stewart. She's amiable, funny, emotive, and gets to kick ass a few times. It just goes to show what she's capable of with good writing and directing.

One other character that stood out for me is the local sheriff played by Stuart Greer. Dialogue makes it clear that Howell had some trouble with the law both before and after his programming (before due to delinquency, after probably due to his panic attacks and pot smoking). He's all too familiar with Mike and seems to take pleasure in putting him behind bars when the opportunity presents itself. However, when Yates' henchmen shoot up the jail trying to get to Howell, he puts his own life on the line to make sure Mike and Phoebe can get out safely.

American Ultra is an enjoyable movie. The subject matter is a bit more complex than it appears to be, making light of a real (and fairly unnerving) CIA experiment involving mind control. Whether or not it was trying to make a point, it's a lot of fun no matter your mindset.

Fear The Walking Dead

What happened to the world while Rick Grimes as in a coma? This prequel spin-off takes us away from the familiar woods of Georgia, and relocates to a Los Angeles that has no idea it's on the brink of an apocalypse.

The stage is quickly set as teenager Nick Clark wakes up out of his heroin stupor and stumbles around for his girlfriend Gloria. He makes his way through the church seeing several dead bodies along the way, and it seems that it was a zombified Gloria who has been killing and eating them. He runs away as fast as he can straight into traffic, hospitalizing him. Similar to Rick's first scene with the zombified little girl in the main series, this scene hits you on the head with the idea that this is not the world we're familiar with. However, at this point, civilization is still intact, but it's a foregone conclusion that it's about to fall apart

We then meet the rest of Nick's family: his sister Alicia, their mother Madison, and her boyfriend Travis Manawa. Travis is himself a divorcé with an estranged son of his own. The family quickly goes to the hospital when they receive the call, and Nick is hesitant to tell anybody anything, until he's alone with Travis, surprisingly enough. He knows nobody would believe him about what he saw, chalking it up to the drugs he was on. He's certain that it's impossible, but also that it didn't feel like a hallucination, which gets him worried about his own sanity.

Madison is a school guidance counselor, and keeps a student Tobias from getting in trouble for bringing a knife to school. Maddie earned my respect with that scene. She knew he wasn't going to hurt anybody, but nonetheless had to find out what was troubling him. Apparently he's been paying attention to the news across the country where people are getting attacked and continue to attack no matter how many times they get shot. It could be a virus, and it's definitely spreading, and he wants to be ready. Other students are seen watching internet videos of this, and it seems almost impossible to them. At the same time, more and more students are staying home, seemingly sick with the flu. Meanwhile, Travis goes back to the church and looks into Nick's story. Aside from a junky who runs out in a panic, all the bodies are gone, leaving only a huge pool of blood on the floor.

When Nick's elderly roommate codes, he siezes the opportunity to check himself out of the hospital and limps around town trying to call his dealer. Madison and Travis immediately start looking for him, asking friends and strangers if anybody has seen him. Travis takes Madison to the church. Whether or not she saw the pile of blood is unclear, but she does find Nick's book and needle.

Nick's dealer turns out to be his friend Calvin, who until this point seemed like a normal, affable young man. The two have an incognito meeting in a diner, and Nick is freaking out wanting to know if anything was wrong with the drugs.

Calvin drives Nick to the river, ready to shoot him in order to cover his tracks, but Nick sees gun, fights back, and turns Calvin's gun on him, shooting him dead. As luck would have it, Madison and Travis weren't far behind, and he takes them back to where it happened. Calvin's car and gun are still there, but there's no body. They put him in the car and drive back into the tunnel, only to see Calvin in their headlights. They get out and try to talk to him, but being a zombie, Calvin snarls and tries to eat them. The family manages to fight him off and run into him. The body is broken, and no longer mobile, but the head is still moving and snarling, as the camera zooms out away from the trio to the rest of the city.

This pilot certainly succeeds in selling the series. Right away, it's established what The Walking Dead waited until the second season finale to reveal: the dead reanimate no matter how they died. It's clear that Calvin had never been bitten, but I still have to wonder what happened to Gloria. The promos for the series all showed her trying to attack Nick and his subsequent accident, but how did she become a zombie? She had a wooden board stabbed through her, so that could be either cause of death, or one of her victims attempting to fight back. She was a junky like Nick, so it's equally possible that she overdosed. Similarly, Nick was upstairs when he woke up and immediately started looking for her when she wasn't there. She could have fallen off the balcony when high and died that way. Calvin's reveal was a surprise, which didn't make sense to me, nor did his attempt to try and kill Nick. His family would find out eventually, I'm sure. Travis investigating Nick's story was good, as was bringing Madeline with him to corroborate their experiences, but it seems odd that they didn't go to the police. Were they trying to avoid implicating Nick for his drug use? Even if there weren't dead bodies all over the place, that pool of blood isn't going anywhere, and it would make sense to call in.

Family unity has always been an important aspect of The Walking Dead. Rick's drive to find his wife and son and keep them safe motivated him from the beginning, and we see some of that with Glenn and Maggie as well (as well as Maggie's own grief having lost all of her relatives). Here we see a family already broken, that will nonetheless have to band back together if they have any hope of surviving.as the world around them dies, and I look forward to seeing how that plays out. While these new characters have an interesting dynamic, I haven't quite grown attached to them yet; although I do have some sympathy for Travis and Nick, and Madeline exudes a sort of emotional strength that it is cool to see in a female character. She's already seen her life fall apart, so she can probably handle what's about to happen and fight to keep what she has left. I'm optimistic about what the series has to offer, though I can't say the same for the people in it.